


like melted ice cream

by ugaytsu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Fluff, M/M, One Night Stands, there's some daisuga angst in the recent chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-10-19 03:08:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20650202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ugaytsu/pseuds/ugaytsu
Summary: Asahi is a fashion model struggling with his confidence. He follows a self-help book telling him to "approach an attractive stranger".





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I haven't written anything in a long time and this is my first time writing a Haikyuu fic. Hope you like it!

"Asahi, come on. We don't have all night."

Asahi gulped. He knew what that voice meant: Daichi was getting tired. Impatient. Any minute now and he will become scary, like that one time in high school when Asahi was slacking off from volleyball practice because he didn't feel like he was good enough. Somehow the memory was similar to what was happening now, except Asahi wasn't a high school student anymore but a 24 year old man trying to follow the self-help book that told him to do one thing that scared him everyday. Today's dare was: "approach an attractive stranger".

Which is why Asahi is at the most tame gay bar in town, with two of his friends sitting at either side of him for moral support. Or so Asahi had people to freak out to and make excuses to.

"Just one stranger, Asahi." Suga pats his shoulder, ever comforting. "And then you can feel proud of yourself afterwards. You might even get a date! There's absolutely nothing that could go wrong here." He grinned as he pushed another another full shotglass in front of a miserable Asahi. So many things could go wrong, Asahi thought. So many things. 

"I'm going to pick someone if you aren't going to," Daichi declared. He obviously wanted to get it over with. Asahi felt rather guilty and stupid for putting his friends through this. "How about that guy? The one with the bad hair talking to the bartender."

"Daichi, you yourself said his hair was bad. It looks terrible. Don't you want the best for Asahi?" Suga clicked his tongue at him. He swiveled his bar stool around to survey the whole bar. "Hey, how about that macho guy at the dance floor?"

Asahi and Daichi looked as well. Asahi shivered, already scared of the muscular guy. He looked really aggressive as he shimmied on the dance floor.

"The baldy?" Suga tried again. That guy looked even more aggressive and was trying to intimidate some of the other people dancing.

Someone did catch Asahi's eye though. The smaller guy with spiked hair that was laughing with the baldy. He seemed to have been dancing too, as he was wiping his brow with the back of his hand and leaving to go to the bar. Asahi could hear him shouting at his friend over the music from where he was. 

"Hey Suga, that guy Asahi's checking out." Daichi sure was receptive. "He's familiar."

Suga squinted as he followed where Daichi was pointing to. "Ah! I know him!" he exclaimed when he finally saw who it was. "That's a guy I work with. Remember that office party last year, Daichi? You might have met him there."

"No wonder he looked familiar." Daichi said thoughtfully. "Is he decent enough?"

"Well, he's really loud and a little too passionate at times, but overall he's a good guy. He's been single for a while too. He's bi. What do you think, Asahi?" Suga nudged his friend. 

Asahi sat frozen in his seat. He was already super intimidated at how bright this guy was, watching him take swigs from a bottle of beer like the stuff didn't taste like used socks. He was laughing happily and slapping the table, at times slapping his bald friend that Suga tried to set him up with. Turns out that not only was he cute but he had an actual career as well, if he worked with Suga. 

"You can approach him about me," Suga suggested. "Tell him I told you to call him. Isn't that really simple?"

"See, Suga already has the way paved for you." Daichi eyed him sternly, before firmly clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You can do it, Asahi."

"Go for it!" Suga cheered.

Well, it's now or never. Asahi is going to finish that dare tonight so he can tick off the box on the self-help book. He took another shot for added courage, which his friends cheered at again, before getting up to walk over to the cute guy. He can feel his nerves coming back to him the closer he got to the table they were sitting at. 

"Excuse me!" Asahi sounded a bit angry, in an attempt to sound confident. He can feel his face get hot from the stares he received, from Suga's cute colleague he got a frown and from the bald friend he got a intimidating glare. Their other friend looked like a pretty average guy but emitted final boss energy. 

"Yeah?" Baldy asked, getting up from his chair and moving closer to Asahi.

Asahi felt like he might die now. Oh my god this was it, he was going to die because he tried to follow that dumb self-help book in an attempt to improve himself why did he even try he will never ever improve himself-

"M-My friend says he knows you," Asahi stuttered at the attractive one he was supposed to be approaching. Thankfully, Baldy moves away and the three guys look at the direction Asahi points a shaky finger at.

"Oh! It's Suga-san!" Cute Guy exclaims, waving to where Suga and Daichi are sitting. He gets up to walk over to the pair quickly, pulling Asahi along by the arm as they try their best to dodge the people littered across the bar’s interior. His grip was firm and may even cut off the circulation in Asahi’s arm if it got any tighter.

"Hey Noya," Suga greets the boy cheerfully. "I see you've met my friend Asahi? And you remember my boyfriend Daichi?" he nudges his boyfriend.

"Yeah, I remember Daichi-san!" Noya, as Asahi now knows, was even smaller up-close. He exuded an air of confidence despite his small stature, like he could never do anything to make himself feel self-conscious. It was so unlike Asahi that it was intimidating. "Asahi-san here really gave me a surprise though! I thought he was some creep hitting on me!" He let out a boisterous laugh, along with a slap on Asahi's back.

A creep... Asahi decided he would never ever approach a stranger again in his entire life.

"Hey Asahi-san, you wanna go drink with me and my buddies?" Noya pointed to his two friends with his thumb. "You're kinda third wheeling with these two. That's gotta be a little awkward for you, huh?"

Before Asahi could overthink, Suga answered for him: "Yes! We actually brought him here so he could meet new people. Asahi doesn’t go out a lot."

“We’ll hang out with him, then!”

And so, Asahi was dragged by this guy almost half his size and who he’s just met, to the table where his friends were at. Noya even pulled a chair and sat him down before taking a seat beside him. One of Noya’s friends was eyeing him curiously and the other was trying to look intimidating. Bald Guy turned out to be Tanaka Ryuunosuke and Final Boss was Ennoshita Chikara, who had been friends with Noya since his university days. The three of them seemed to have been at a heated debate about who the strongest character in Dragon Ball was before Asahi interrupted them and they continued it naturally, trying to include Asahi in the conversation as much as they could.

"Well, I've got work tomorrow so I'm gonna go," Ennoshita decided after glancing at his watch. He put on his dark green bomber jacket that had been on another chair. "You guys can get home on your own, right?”

"Boring Chikara!" Noya sneered at him. 

"I'll go with Chikara," Tanaka said as he got up from his seat. He padded his own pockets to see if he didn’t lose anything, which made Asahi think he was actually a responsible guy despite how he acted. “I have to open the restaurant early.”

"What, you too, Ryuu?!" Noya cried incredulously. "It's so early! You guys are no fun!" 

"You can leave this guy if you want to,” Ennoshita assured Asahi with a pat on the shoulder. “Nice meeting you.”

“It was nice meeting you guys too.” Asahi waved at the two as they left, while Noya made faces at them.

“It’s so hard being an adult, Asahi-san, everyone’s so busy now.” Noya sighed. He leans his neck backward so that his neck hangs over the back of the chair, his eyes closed in concentration. Asahi takes it as an opportunity to stare at him unabashedly, taking in the slope of his nose, the natural arch of his eyebrows- It doesn’t take long for Noya to open his eyes again, a huge grin on his boyish face. It startles Asahi back to staring at his barely-touched beer bottle. “Hey, you wanna go have fun somewhere?”

Following a stranger outside a bar could only mean horrible things: Noya might beat him up for his money or even be a serial killer, but Asahi tried to reassure himself that Suga knew this guy and that Suga would immediately report Noya if he went missing.

“You okay?” Noya looked up at him and asked. The two of them had been walking, surprisingly rather steadily despite the drinks they’d had. “Are you thinking of something? Or do you need to go to the bathroom?”

Asahi shook his head furiously. His the-world-is-ending face, as Daichi called it, must have been on. “I’m okay.”

“Okay. Just tell me if you wanna go home.” Noya stopped in front of a small building, turning around to grin at Asahi excitedly. “We’re here!"  
  
A batting center.

It was so unexpected that Asahi just nodded dumbly and went after Noya, who was excitedly jogging inside.

“Hey, how do you know Suga-san?” Noya asked as the two of them put on the safety gear needed to play. He looked a little salty as he struggled to put on the helmet on his spiky hair.

“The three of us have been friends since high school. We were in the same volleyball team.” Asahi pushed back the stray hairs he didn’t tie up well to his helmet. The two of them started walking to the batting cages, taking their places a good distance from each other.

“Ohh, that’s a pretty long time.” Noya seemed to ponder that for a bit. “Hey, you wanna see who hits the most? You have to buy me a Garigari-kun popsicle if you lose.” He laughed loudly, the sound exponentially louder as they were the only two people in that enclosed space.

Though he was timid, Asahi was not one to lose on sports-related challenges. He had been athletic all his life and had the strength needed to hit those fast-flying baseballs. Also, he didn’t want to mention it but he did go to these batting centers once in a while when he was especially stressed out. “You’re on.”

Both of them did rather badly because of the alcohol in their systems giving them a shit aim, but in the end Asahi got hit 14 of the 26 shots he got while Noya only hit 12.

“Aaaah I did terrible!” Noya cried out in frustration, messing up his somewhat flattened hair even further. “I can’t believe I lost! You did great though, Asahi-san.” He gave him a serious thumbs-up, as if he was acknowledging his skill.

“You did well too, Noya.” Asahi gave him a small smile. He didn’t want to go home yet. He still wanted to get to know this man, who just emanated such a positive energy that Asahi felt attracted to more than he was attracted to Noya’s looks. “I’ll… still get you that Garigari-kun if you want.”

-

“How do you know Suga?” It was so lame but there wasn’t anything else Asahi could think of to talk about, so he thought about the one thing they had in common. “Uhh, I said I knew him back in high school but didn’t get to ask you.”

The two of them were now eating the popsicles Asahi promised Noya at a convenience store parking lot. The city air was moist and chilly at 2am and the cold treat really wasn’t helping. Asahi regrets not getting a hot drink instead. Noya on the other hand looks extremely happy and satisfied biting big chunks off of his Garigari-kun.

“Oh, I know him from work. At the ad agency. He’s kind of my superior but he’s really cool and plays along with us fooling around.” Noya wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “How about you, Asahi-san? What do you do?”

There it was. That question he always dreaded when he met new people. Asahi fidgeted in place, his face hot, feeling the popsicle melting and dripping down his hand. Noya asks for it and thanks Asahi when he does give it, then proceeds to stare down the taller man.

“I… Model,” Asahi says sheepishly, looking away. “I'm a model.”

“Oh? I never would’ve guessed that!”

_Of course I don’t look like a model. I’m too big and bulky old-looking and not at all the slender pretty-boy type like-_

“I didn’t mean I thought you were ugly!” Noya said immediately, giving Asahi a low bow that sent the rest of his ice cream sliding down to the floor. He lamented the ice cream for a while before talking again. “It’s just that models are cocky and always shove it in your face that they’re models, right?”  
  
Huh?

“A lot of the times at clubs they go up to the bouncers and are like ‘hey I’m a model, these are my model friends, can you let us in and get us some free drinks because we’re, you know, models?’ They’re like that! And Asahi-san has been nothing but sweet all night.” Noya grinned like he was proud of his explanation.

_Sweet? _

“There are some who are like that,” Asahi agreed, laughing. “The guys I work with are okay though.”

“Hey, can you show me some of your pictures sometime? How come Suga-san never invited you to model for our ads though?”

“Er… Commercial kind of isn’t my specialty. I do fashion shoots and runway.” Asahi scratched at his cheek in embarrassment.

“Whoa, you’re pretty much a big-shot!” Noya looked at him in awe. “Maybe I should get an autograph from you or- Fuck. I don’t have an umbrella.”

The rain had started to pour in drops that were heavy enough to hurt. The two men hurried back inside the convenience store, sitting at the small tables. Asahi felt rather gigantic for these stools. They should probably get home soon. “I live near here if you want to stay,” he suggested absent-mindedly.

“Yeah?”

“Or, we could take a taxi to your place if you like. Then I’ll go home.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Noya?” Asahi looked at the other man, who was checking something on his phone. “What do you think?”

“I think.” Noya stared him straight in the eye. “You look pretty good in this one.” He held up his phone. On it was one of Asahi’s underwear photoshoots, where he was lying in bed with a girl holding on to his side. He remembered feeling so anxious before that shoot and making an emergency phone call to Suga and instead getting a pep talk from Daichi on why he wasn’t going to die if he got an erection ‘this is a sexy shoot for god’s sake’.

“Noya!” Asahi squawked and tried to grab the phone from him, but Noya curled up into his chair and kept the phone to his stomach. Asahi buried his face in his hands instead. “How could you even search that?!”

“I just Googled ‘Asahi model’ and it was all you,” Noya cackled. “So do we go home now?”

Asahi peeked from between his fingers. “Well, yeah. I was asking you if you want to go home with me or should we take a taxi to your place…” He observed Noya’s serious expression. His cheeks were a little red and Asahi traced back his own words and realized. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything perverted by that!” he waved his hands in front of him defensively. “I just wanted to make sure you were safe!”

“I’ll go home with you I think. My place is pretty far from here and I don’t have Ryuu with me to share the cab fare.” Noya gave him a mischievous smile. “Though I actually wouldn’t mind if anything happened.”

-

They take a short taxi ride to Asahi’s flat. Suga and Daichi have collectedly texted him fourteen times in the span of time that he and Noya had been together. He replies that Noya will be spending the night and not to worry about either of them, to which he gets bombarded with a dozen texts of ‘_what?!’, ‘Go get him, tiger’ _and _‘practice safe sex’. _He sighed as he put down his phone on the coffee table.

“Your turn, Asahi-san. Thanks for letting me use your shower.” Noya is in a fresh new sweater and jogging pants that Asahi had kept since high school for sentimental reasons. It still looked a little big on him but it would fit him better than what clothes Asahi had as an adult. Noya looked younger with his hair down, but you could still see the wildness in the way he scrubbed down the towel to dry his hair, plopping down beside Asahi on the couch. “Ooh, I think they have re-runs of Kamen Rider around this time,” he said as he flipped through the channels.

In the shower, Asahi couldn’t help but overthink again. Why did he bring home such a hot guy?? If they even have sex, Noya would probably be disappointed after seeing that his real body wasn’t all photoshopped buff like the magazine shoot, wouldn’t he?! Noya did say he wouldn’t mind if anything happened but does he really want anything to happen?? Asahi shampooed his hair angrily and let the warm shower clear off his mind.

“I’ll, er, sleep on the couch,” Asahi decided as soon as he got dressed and mentally prepared enough to face Noya.

“Eh, why? You can have the bed if you like.” Noya sat cross-legged on the couch, already looking like he felt at home. “Or we can share. Either the bed or the couch.” He patted the seat beside him, beckoning Asahi to sit down.

Asahi sat down gingerly, trying not to look at Noya directly or sit too close to the other.

“Hey, Asahi-san? Was it obvious that I was attracted to you all night?” Noya’s cheeks were pink but he never looked away from Asahi’s gaze. He was even sitting kind of like a samurai, with his hands firm on his thighs. “Chikara said I always acted like a bro around people I liked and it wasn’t obvious.”

“It… wasn’t obvious, I guess.” Asahi scratched his cheek out of habit. “Sorry. I did think you were hanging out with me as a new friend.”

“Asahi-san, I really… I really want to kiss you right now.” Noya leaned closer toward him, those large brown eyes staring into Asahi’s eyes.

And Asahi, with the mild traces of alcohol still in him, thought _fuck it, _and pushed himself forward to capture Noya’s lips. Noya tastes like a mixture of beer and soda-flavored popsicle, which Asahi would’ve found disgusting if it was anyone else but this guy he was completely attracted to, and if Noya wasn’t making the most delicious little moans against his lips and gripping at his shirt and- Oh.

One of Noya’s hands was tugging at the waistband of his shorts and the other was under his shirt, grazing at the skin of his chest and abdomen. Asahi could feel Noya’s legs wrap around his waist and Noya pulled away with a sharp inhale once he had successfully straddled Asahi.

“You wanna?”

No one could ever have said no to that hazy look on Noya’s face, and Asahi pulled him closer for another kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

“You… wanna get cleaned up?”

Noya nuzzled against Asahi’s shoulder. “I’m tired,” he mumbled, breath hot against Aashi’s skin. “My thighs are killing me.”

“O-okay then.”

With as little movement as possible, Asahi took off the condom from his flaccid cock and tied off the end. He was lucky he kept a trash can near the bedside table and even luckier that his aim didn’t miss and he wouldn’t have to pick up the gross soggy condom from the floor later on.

“You sure about not washing up?” Asahi asked again. “That might get uncomfortable.”

Noya shifted to move away from him, peeking at Asahi through his light-colored bangs. “You go first. I’ll rest up a little.”

Nodding, Asahi got up to go to the bathroom, flinching when he heard Noya call: “Asahi-san, nice ass!” He covered his butt with his hands and scurried faster to the bathroom.

By the time Asahi got back from washing up, Noya was already lying fast asleep, hugging the pillow to his cheek. Asahi had wanted to help him get cleaned up, but now that he's asleep he didn't want to overstep boundaries and touch Noya. He was exhausted as well, so he shut off the lights and went under the covers.

-

Asahi was alone when he woke up. He yawned before finding his phone to check the time. 10:27am. And some unread messages, probably from Suga and Daichi. It’s been a long time since he slept in like this and skipped his morning run, maybe he should sleep in a little bit more. He could hear the TV from his bedroom. Did they forget to turn it off yesterday when he and Noya...

Noya.

That really attractive guy Asahi slept with yesterday after meeting him at a bar because of that stupid dare from the stupid book. He was really cute and the sex was great and Asahi had fun during their short time together.

Too bad he was probably never going to see him again.

Asahi hugged his pillow tighter and tried to go back to sleep, but he was kind of hungry so he rubbed his eyes and trudged to wash his face and brush his teeth.

“Morning.”

Stopping on his way to the bathroom, Asahi focused his bleary eyes on the figure on the couch. Noya was sitting on his couch, dressed in yesterday’s clothes: the striped boat-necked shirt and the grey jeans that elongated his legs. His hair wasn't styled and looked soft and fluffy. On TV was an old episode of Ultraman.

“H-Hey, Noya. You were still here,” Asahi said awkwardly, combing hair quickly with his fingers in an attempt to look presentable. Oh god, did he see Asahi making any strange faces while he was asleep?! What if he drooled on Noya?! And could he smell his breath from this far away because Noya would be so turned off by his morning breath and-

Noya turned his body to grin at him. “Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. I used your dryer and everything and now I’m hungry. You wanna go for brunch?”

Asahi ceased his movements in surprise. “Um, yeah. Sure.”

Asahi washed up a little, tied his hair into a loose bun and got dressed. Noya was intently watching a different show now, a magical girl anime that Asahi remembered secretly liking. He absent-mindedly pressed a kiss near Noya's shoulder, a patch of skin not covered by his shirt's neckline, before plopping down on the couch as well. The other whipped his head to look at Asahi, eyes wide and cheeks red.

"You... You can't do that!!" Noya stammered. It was strange seeing him flustered, as he was pretty much leading Asahi confidently since yesterday.

"I'm so sorry!" Asahi apologized. He didn't know what came into him that made him do that. It just felt like something natural to do at the moment.

"Whatever," Noya muttered, cheeks still pink. "Let's go."

The two of them decide on the gyudon place near Asahi's, the two of them scarfing down the delicious beef and rice heartily.

"So," Noya said with a cheekful of food. Asahi hummed in acknowledgement. "You that sweet with every one night stand?"

Asahi choked on his food, Noya laughing at him but still slapping his back and handing him a glass of water.

"I don't really know since this is the first time I've done it," Asahi said once he was no longer dying. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Yesterday was the first time I slept with someone I just met."

"Huh." Noya chewed his food thoughtfully. He ordered another bowl for the two of them to share before asking "So will you do it again? Have a one night stand?"

"Hmm." Asahi thought about that for a minute. "Only if they're as attractive as you and ask just as nicely."

Noya laughed at that. "You unexpectedly know how to sweet-talk someone."

The two of them finish by the time the restaurant hits its peak lunch hours.

"Hey, the station is that way, isn't it?" Noya points at the direction opposite Asahi's place.

So this was the end of his time with Noya. Noya who listened to him like he was the most interesting person even though Asahi was just boring and a wimp. "Yeah, it's just a few minutes away. Want me to walk you?"

"Nah, you said you had work this afternoon, didn't you?" Oh, yeah. Asahi almost forgot that he had a photoshoot later. Noya waved at him. "Bye, Asahi-san. Thanks for the date. I left my number on your counter."

-

"So how was your date?" Suga sing-songed once he picked up Asahi's call.

"That was a date?" Asahi asked as he balanced his phone to his ear and shoulder. He was packing up his things before he had to go to his photoshoot. "Isn't it too quick to call that a date? I just met him."

"Tell me about it! Did you guys fuck already? I'm sure you did! Didn't he spend the night!"

Asahi blushed. "Yeah, we kind of... But I guess we did go on a date, we went to a batting center and ate popsicles at a convenience store."

Suga 's laughter rang merrily through the phone. "Popsicles. That sounds like Noya. Garigari-kun? He eats those every free time he gets."

"Oh." Asahi finished his packing and set his backpack on the counter, checking for the piece of paper with Noya' s number. There was a phone number scrawled on it, signed Yuu with a smiley face with detailed spiky hair that resembled Noya. "Say, is his name Yuu?"

"Hm? Noya?" Suga seems to be eating chips, Asahi could hear the crunching. "Yeah. Nishinoya Yuu. Did I not introduce him properly?"

"You just said he was Noya." Asahi panicked. "Suga, I just slept with a guy whose name I didn't even know."

"Yeah, what's wrong with that? I know him anyway so there wasn't any chance he was a creep." Suga paused. "Wait, was he a creep?"

"No, he was..." Asahi sighed. "He was really cool, okay? Now I'm miserable that I'm not going to see him again because I thought with my dick for once."

"Aw, Asahi. You never know. Maybe he still wants to go out with you. I'll ask him about it and let you know, okay?" Daichi could be heard in the background saying something. "No, I'm almost done," Suga called to him. "Listen, Asahi, I've gotta go. I'll text you if I get any info. I'm good at these things. Bye then!"

"Bye." Asahi sighed again, but pocketed the small piece of paper.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi gets advice during a photoshoot.

Thankfully today's photoshoot was one with actual clothing and not the ones that Asahi was usually booked for: the ones where he only wore underwear and had to have that rugged, oiled-up look. Asahi chalks it up to his trying to look wild that he ends up booking these jobs. Today it's a fairly popular designer's new collection of luxury suits, mostly in metallic tones, that Asahi broke into a sweat worrying about whether he'll have to pay for the clothes if he sweats. Stylist assitant Yamaguchi had him wear the metallic red suit first.

"Azumane-san," Yachi greeted him cheerfully with a small wave as he sat down to get his hair done. "What's for this week's misfortune?" 

It was a routine thing for the two of them whenever they met. The apprentice hairstylist was terrified of Asahi at first, but it turned out that they shared a similar personality trait: being extremely negative and anxious. 

"Well," Asahi started. Wouldn't it be sexual harassment to talk about his sex life to a young girl? It wasn't like he was interested in her since he was gay and she was obviously also gay with the way she looked at Shimizu. But it still wouldn't be appropriate, would it?

"Can I go first??" Yachi asked determinedly. Her eyebrows creased as she combed Asahi's hair with a wide-toothed comb. She looked around first before whispering to Asahi: "I was out eating with Shimizu-senpai the other day and I laughed, and I..." She looked pale now, like she was going to choke. "I... I swallowed a fly!!" She looked like she was about to burst into tears. 

"That's terrible!!" Asahi sympathized. He could feel his skin crawl. He asked for more details as Yachi worked on his hair, like did Yachi throw up and how did Shimizu react. 

"How about you then, Azumane-san?" Yachi asked when she had gotten over her trauma. She finished putting in the hair extensions on Asahi and started lightly curling his hair with an iron. "Oh, I'm almost done now so if it's okay for Shimizu-senpai to hear it..?" 

"Well, I'm not really sure if you'll be okay with hearing this but I... Kind of had a one night stand?" Asahi felt the blush creep up his neck to his face. Yachi wouldn't sue him for sexual harassment over this, would she??

Yachi froze and Asahi had to pry her from himself in order to not burn his hair off. Her teeth chattered in shock. "A-A-Azumane-san got a girl pregnant?!"

"No!" Asahi started panicking as well. His hair should be done soon as Shimizu was still going to do his makeup, and now Yachi was freaking out over the intro of his story. "It was a guy!"

"Azumane-san is pregnant by some medical miracle?!"

Shimizu laughing beside them snapped them out of their discussion. She took a look at Asahi's hair and Yachi hurriedly goes back to working. "That can't happen, Hitoka-chan."

"Then, what happened? Are you sick now, Azumane-san? Did you get some disease from having risky relations?" Yachi looked like she was listening to Asahi breathe his last on his death bed. Asahi hoped he wasn't as bad as Yachi was when it came to negativity.

"No, I just..." Asahi sighed. Here comes his unwarranted emotion vomit. It was really embarrassing how he talked about his feelings sometimes but he really needed to get it out. "I kind of like him, I guess? And I don't think I'll see him again because we slept with each other already."

The two women were quiet for a while, Yachi humming in thought while mussing up Asahi's hair to give it those effortless, woke-up-like-this waves. 

Shimizu spoke up when it was time to do his makeup. "What was his behavior afterwards?" It sounded like an interrogation from a police officer rather than someone concerned. 

"Behavior?" Asahi thought back on it. Noya had checked out his ass and then went straight to sleep without cleaning up. The memory made his face turn red. No way in hell was he going to tell that to anyone!

"Like, did you hold hands? Or cuddle afterwards?" Shimizu looked as stoic as ever as she started working on his makeup, but Asahi could tell she was trying to help. 

"Oh! That's a good question, senpai!" Yachi nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, I guess he cuddled my arm a little afterwards?" The rhythmic dabbing of the sponge on his face was kind of relaxing. Asahi closed his eyes so Shimizu could do his eyes. "And he was still there this morning. We had brunch together."

"That's great!" Yachi looked like she was about to cry happy tears when Asahi cracked open one eye to look at her. "Congratulations!"

"That's something to be congratulated about?"

The three of them looked back to the voice. Kageyama Tobio was wearing sitting on the other makeup chair casually eating an onigiri.

"Kageyama, since when have you been listening?" Asahi groaned as Shimizu went back to filling in his eyebrows. He could die of embarrassment right now. "And why are you here anyway?"

"Since the start." Kageyama rummaged through his messenger bag to produce a yogurt drink. He poked a straw through it before answering: "Takeda-san said I could learn a lot from watching you. I wanted to watch Oikawa-san but he told me to fuck off and Takeda-san suggested Tsukishima instead but I don't want to see that jerk's face for two hours. So Azumane-san it is."

Asahi laughed bitterly. "Sounds like I'm the last option."

Kageyama was a strange kid. He came over a few months ago to the modeling agency, all by himself, and said he wanted to become a model no matter what, because his boyfriend didn't get him to model for a photography project and Kageyama wanted to be petty. Takeda decided to take a few test shots and the boy was a natural, so he ended up getting signed as well. Asahi didn't know him that well yet, but Kageyama has been generally cooperative and eager to learn despite his cold exterior. 

"Why do you think it's not going to work out because you slept with him?" Kageyama asked, eyes intently trained on Asahi as he got his makeup done.

"Why? Well... Because he thinks I'm easy and that I'm just looking for sex and not a relationship?" Asahi tried. He flinched when Kageyama's scowl worsened. "What? Isn't that the truth?"

"Let's put it the other way." Shimizu set down her makeup brush tolook at Asahi. "Do you think he's easy and just looking for sex?"

Asahi looked down at his hands. They really were trying to make him look through other perspectives rather than his own negative one. "I didn't think he was easy, rather that he was a go-getter who tried his best to get what he wanted... I don't know if he's looking for a relationship though."

"Azumane-san." Kageyama's eyebrows furrowed deep. "My boyfriend's parents have been married for more than twenty years now and that's how they met. Knocked up on a one night stand and married because of it. They have two great children and they haven't even gotten close to getting to a divorce yet. My boyfriend says it's a family secret but I'll let you in on it just so you can think on it clearly."

"It doesn't matter how you meet," Shimizu agreed. She decided that Asahi's eyebrows are the exact same shape now so he can go to his photoshoot. "It's not often that Kageyama-kun talks about personal things so think about the things that he said." She pats both Asahi's shoulders.

"Does that mean Azumane-san has to be pregnant so this relationship can work out," Yachi could be heard mumbling to herself. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi meets Kageyama's boyfriend.

The kid was staring.

The kid was definitely staring.

Did Asahi have something on his face? Was his hair a mess? Is his goatee too long now that he looked like a wise old man you could ask about your problems? Asahi shuffled to the next aisle as discreetly as he could, pretending to be thoroughly immersed in the ingredients for pickle relish. _Cucumber, pickling salt, onion, sugar… _Wait a second, the kid was behind him now, was he?

“Excuse me!”

Asahi turned to look at the kid that had stared him through a whole aisle in the grocery store. He was still staring, eyes and mouth both wide open as he craned his neck to look up at Asahi. He looked like he could be in high school? Or middle school? He was definitely small, probably around Noya’s height or smaller. His shock of orange hair was definitely a striking feature. Asahi had never seen anyone with that hair color.

“Yes?” Asahi asked politely. Although his underarms did feel like they were sweating a lot right now.

“You’re Azumane-san, aren’t you?”

Oh, fuck. Could it be someone who knew him from social media? Was this kid going to ask if he was the guy who did that perfume ad with Haiba Alisa where they were mostly butt naked and how did he feel about it? Or did he recognize Asahi from that runway show for that women’s magazine in which he had to rip apart his shirt and walk in his underwear for all the screaming women to see?

“I… Yeah, I am,” Asahi finally answered, rubbing at the back of his neck.

The kid grinned. “I thought so! I recognized you from my boyfriend’s IG story! Ah, I’m that guy Kageyama’s boyfriend. Hinata Shouyou!” He pointed at himself with his thumb cheerfully.

“Oh. Uh, nice to meet you, Hinata.” Asahi set the jar of pickle relish back on the shelf.

Kageyama did mention that he had a boyfriend. In fact, that was the only person Kageyama ever referenced whenever he was telling a story, or saying anything in general. The kid didn’t seem to have any friends aside from his boyfriend, or at least he didn’t talk about his other friends.

“Wasn’t he observing your photoshoot yesterday, Azumane-san?! He said you were really cool!” Hinata snickered. “In fact, he said-“

“Hinata, you dumbass! Who are you bothering this time?!” Kageyama came storming into the pickle aisle with a shopping basket in one hand, grabbing Hinata by the collar to yell at him. “Didn’t I tell you to grab the shampoo?!”

“Yeah, but! It’s Azumane-san!” Kageyama followed the direction Hinata was pointing at. He let go of his boyfriend and the shopping basket and gave Asahi a stiff bow.

“Hey, Kageyama, you guys do your grocery shopping here too, huh,” Asahi said in an awkward attempt at small talk. He caught a glimpse of the shopping basket Kageyama was carrying and felt a little sick. It was all junk food: packets upon packets of instant noodles and potato chips. The toiletries were just cheap soap. Asahi hoped to god Kageyama was using a facial wash at home because there’s no way those soaps could be good for your face! “Uh, Kageyama. Don’t you guys cook at home?”

Kageyama glared at him. “No one knows how.”

Hinata nodded somberly. “We almost burned the kitchen down.”

-

Asahi ended up doing grocery shopping with the two and coming back to their shared apartment. He even cooked a whole pot of pork curry, which Kageyama’s eyes sparkled upon, and Hinata pointed out that it was his boyfriend’s favorite.

“Listen, you two, for your own good you should try to eat healthier!” Asahi tried to scold the two kids sternly, as they turned out to be broke university students with no culinary knowledge. Stern was just not a thing for Asahi to be and he just sounded like he was pleading. Daichi sure did it well and Asahi apparently did not have an inner Daichi to summon for times like these.

“Azumane-san cooks pretty well,” Kageyama complimented him through a mouthful of food.

Asahi kind of felt sorry for them. They looked like they hadn’t had a decent home-cooked meal in a while, with how they wolfed down food. Asahi doubted they were even chewing.

“By the way, Azumane-san. This guy…” Hinata put down his rice bowl and pointed at Kageyama before flattening his hair with his hands and making his best impression of Kageyama’s face. “ ‘Hey, Shouyou, what if I grow my hair long like Azumane-san’s?’ is what he said!” Hinata burst out laughing as Kageyama looked at him in horror.

“Dumbass!” Kageyama yelled, roughly pushing Hinata’s head down with his hand. “Why did you have to tell him that!”

“Because! It’s funny!” Hinata can’t stop laughing despite fighting off his boyfriend’s hands. “It suits Azumane-san but you!! You’ll look like some kind of cursed Victorian doll!”

The two of them continued wrestling at the dining table for a while, Asahi panickedly telling them to stop to no avail. They calmed down after a while and went back to eating their food, before Kageyama spoke up.

“Hey, I told Azumane-san about your parents.”

“Huh? What about my parents?” Hinata asked, confused.

“How they met. Dumbass.”

“Huuuh? I told you that was a family secret!” Hinata angrily stole a piece of meat out of Kageyama’s bowl. “Why?”

“Azumane-san had a one night stand and was worried about it.”

Great. A couple of university students discussing Asahi’s sex life. Just what he needed this weekend.

“Oh?” Hinata chewed thoughtfully. “What are you worried about, Azumane-san?”

“Er… Well,” Asahi rubbed at his nape. “I’m worried I won’t see him again.”

“Why not?”

“Because. One night stand.” Asahi already went through this during yesterday’s photoshoot. He didn’t want to have to explain again and go on a word vomit.

“So? Did you give him your number?”

“No, but…” Asahi suddenly realized. He hadn’t texted Noya yet, or even saved his number in any way. “He gave me his number.”

Kageyama raised an eyebrow at him. “So? Did you text him?”

“I… Haven’t,” Asahi admitted. “What would I even tell him?”

“ ‘Hi’? ‘I want to see you again‘? You could tell him loads of things.” Kageyama finally seemed full now and started clearing his and Asahi’s bowls. He put them in the sink, where Asahi could see a pile of other dishes still unwashed.

“Wow, Kageyama-kun acting like he knows a lot about dating,” Hinata cackled, getting smacked on the head. “Hey!”

“How about _you, _what do _you _think Asahi-san should say?” Kageyama asked as he picked a piece of rice from Hinata’s cheek and ate it. _So Kageyama could act sweet like this to his boyfriend too_, Asahi thought.

“Hm, just ask him how he is? And tell him what you’re up to?” Hinata stared up at the ceiling lamp before having a eureka moment. “Oh! You could tell him about your photoshoot yesterday! Kageyama said you were really cool!”

Cool? Asahi? Kageyama thought Asahi was cool? Was this some sort of parallel universe? Kageyama was the cool and collected one and not Asahi.

“He- He even wanted to grow his hair long,” Hinata remembered again, getting into a laughing fit that lead to Kageyama almost throwing him off his chair.

“Anyway, just text him!” Kageyama decided once Hinata was complaining about how he would go bald if he kept pulling at his hair. “How bad could it be? You never know, he might have been waiting for you to text him.”

“Were you like that when you gave me your number too, Kageyama-kun?” Hinata teased. Kageyama finally pushed him off of his chair.

Asahi couldn’t understand how this relationship worked, but they sure were kind of endearing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi has supportive friends.

As soon as Asahi got home, he plopped down on the couch to fumble through his backpack’s outer pocket. Where was it? What his hand touched were a small pack of tissue paper, some hand sanitizer, wet wipes in case the dry tissues weren’t enough for Asahi to not feel disgusting… Holy shit, had he accidentally thrown away Noya’s number?! He frantically turned over his backpack and shook out all of the contents. He dug through the pile of things until he eventually found the crumpled piece of paper wedged in the tissue paper packet.

Such was Asahi’s life.

What was he supposed to say again? Asahi’s palms were sweaty and he wiped them on his pants before typing a very lame ‘hi :)’.

Wait, just _hi? _That would be creepy and Asahi himself would never have replied to such a text. What if Noya thought he was some scammer?

_Hi, it’s Asahi :)_

Better. Asahi’s thumb hovered over the “send” button.

Wait.

What if Noya _called _him once he received his text? Asahi wasn’t ready for a phone call and Noya would have to hear him panicking and he would say stupid things. Ah, but he wanted to see Noya again. Asahi shook his head in an attempt to shake off the bad thoughts, before determinedly pressing the send button.

Almost as soon as he sent the message his phone buzzed and Asahi almost drops it on the floor, scrambling to keep it in his already-sweaty-again hands. What the hell, it was just a text from Suga.

_Hey Asahi, Noya is asking for your number :D :D :D You’ll be okay if I gave it to him, right? :D :D :D _

His phone buzzes and it’s Suga with the excessive emoticons again: _Oh, turns out you just texted him huh ;) ;) ;)_

He’s about to reply when his phone buzzes a third time and Asahi expects another text from Suga telling him words of encouragement, but instead it’s from Noya.

From: Nishinoya

_Asahi-san!!!! You texted me!! I was waiting for you to, I just asked Suga-san for your number :) _

He’s… _So cute._ Honest. Asahi would never have just admitted that he was creeping and asking someone for Noya’s number if he had been in the other man’s position. He remembered what Kageyama told him a while ago.

“_You never know, he might have been waiting for you to text him._”

So Kageyama did know a lot about love. He may be his junior in the modeling industry but Kageyama was his senior in getting a boyfriend. Asahi was going to listen to this kid from now on.

From: Nishinoya

_Asahi-san? Are you busy? :(_

But _oh no, _Asahi just made Noya _sad_! And feel like Asahi didn’t want to text him or talk to him at all ever again which was the exact opposite of how he felt. Asahi quickly typed a reply: _Sorry for not texting you until now! I was at work yesterday and I was out doing errands today. How are you? :) _

Fuck, ‘how are you’? ‘How are you’?! Could Asahi get any lamer than this? He scrubbed at his cheeks with his hands before he remembered that Hinata had suggested such a question. Gotta listen to the kids who weren’t late bloomers like Asahi.

From: Nishinoya

_I’m good! Just did errands as well since there’s work again tomorrow. :(_

_Do you have work tomorrow? _

To: Nishinoya

_No, I don’t have work all the time :) Tomorrow is an off day for me._

From: Nishinoya

_Lucky :(_

_You want to go for ramen after my work hours?_

Asahi’s heart beat a little faster, and he could feel his face heat up. So this guy could just ask him out casually like that? Asahi could _never. _He couldn’t even text Noya first and when he did it was a lame _hi it’s Asahi _with a pathetic smily face even though Asahi was dying in real life_._

To: Nishinoya

_Sure thing :) I’ll pick you up at your office? _

…Why. Asahi buried his head under a throw pillow. Pick him up at his workplace?? Really, Asahi?? To make you seem like a stalker even though you just knew where your high school friend worked and the person you’re interested in happened to be working at the same place and-

From: Nishinoya

_You will?! Thanks! I get out at 5:30 :D It’s a date then <3_

A heart. Noya typed a heart. And said they were going on a date. A date. Asahi was imploding and people would probably find him in a puddle in his apartment when they don’t hear from him in a few days. Wait, he couldn’t be a puddle for a few days, he had a date tomorrow. A date. Date. _Date._

A date.

Suga called him after that, demanding why Asahi wasn’t replying and has he replaced him with Noya already even though he and Suga went way back from high school.

“Sorry,” Asahi said sheepishly. He suddenly panicked. “Suga! Noya asked me on a date tomorrow! And I said I would pick him up at your workplace.” Asahi groaned and buried his face in the hand he wasn’t holding his phone with. “That’s creepy, isn’t it?”

Suga laughed, voice ringing merrily through the phone speaker. “Nah, you just coincidentally know where he works because of me, right? Don’t stress out over it, Asahi.”

“Well, but-“

“_Asahi. _No stressing out_. _You didn’t even have to ask the guy out, and he asked you out by himself so why are you the one stressing out?” There is a smacking, kissy sound and a mumbled _welcome home _from Suga. Daichi must’ve come home. “You have nothing to worry about, okay?”

“But-“

“No buts!” Suga sounded a little muffled, probably clinging on to Daichi like he always did when his boyfriend came home. “Hey Daichi, tell Asahi to snap out of it and go on a proper date.”

“Hey Asahi, I have no idea what’s happening because I just came home, is this about Suga’s colleague?” Daichi asked once he had Suga’s phone. Asahi could hear Suga humming contentedly and he could imagine a scene he always used to see when the three of them still lived together in college: Suga with his head tucked under Daichi’s chin, a soft smile on his face, hugging him as soon as Daichi came home from working his old part-time job at the convenience store. _So they were still like this._ Asahi couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, that’s him. He asked me out on a date.” Asahi paused to nibble at his lower lip. “What do you think, Daichi? Isn’t it too late to go on a date him when we already… You know…”

“Pfft. Do you want to go out with him?”

“Well, yeah, I was worried he wouldn’t like me since I was easy and-“

“Asahi." Daichi was using that stern voice again, and Asahi could hear Suga giggling in the background. “There was just consensual sex between two single adults. No need to slut-shame yourself. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But-"

“No buts,” Daichi snapped. His voice turned softer as he continued. “Look, just try and enjoy it, please? Suga said this guy is really good and you seem to really like him as well.”

The phone switched over to Suga. “No negative beardie for the rest of the night, yeah? We’ll be cheering you on. Good night, Asahi!"

“Yeah. Good night.” The phone line went dead and Asahi sighed out of habit. He was feeling a little better now, and he was thankful to have such great friends who always gave him the support he needed.

Until he realized that he hadn’t responded to Noya’s texts for a while and went into panic mode.


	6. Chapter 6

Asahi woke up past 11am the next morning, specifically because it already felt too warm to be asleep. He had been texting Noya late into the night, talking about all sorts of things ranging from Asahi's volunteer work at a local animal shelter and Nishinoya's late grandfather who was apparently a playboy.

From: Nishinoya  
_Good morning, Asahi-san :D See you later <3_

Shit, that text was hours ago! Now Noya was going to think he wasn't interested and that he was ignoring him again, Asahi thought as he shoveled his brunch of fish and rice into his mouth. Asahi opened the next message from Suga.

From: Suga  
_Hey, someone's been bragging about having a date after work ;)_

Asahi choked on his food and coughed violently. Noya was bragging? About him? Did he do that with every date he went on?! And did he brag that they had sex because that would mean Nishinoya Yuu was the biggest jerk ever and a fuckboy. He might even have described Asahi's body and told everyone about his sleeping face. Asahi shuddered at the thought. The _worst_. He asked Suga about it, and his friend reassures that Noya was in fact just being very giddy and saying he had a hot date with a gorgeous model.

To: Nishinoya  
_Sorry, I just woke up. Good morning :)_

It still was the morning, was it? Asahi could think of a million instances when he said good morning and it was already the afternoon so he checked the time again to make sure before sending the text.

From: Nishinoya  
_Wish I could have slept in with you ;)_

Now it was the water Asahi was choking on.

From: Nishinoya  
_But work first! Work! I'll see you later, Asahi-san <3_

Asahi spends his day working out with with the personal trainer who worked with models from his agency, Bokuto Koutarou. The guy was too damn energetic and always did work-outs with his clients instead of just guiding them like most trainers did, and right now was no different.

"Bokuto, can it not be so intense that I get too tired out today?" Asahi heaved before taking a swig from his water bottle as he still ran on the uphill treadmill.

"Hey hey hey, giving up already?!" Bokuto roared, slamming his hand on Asahi's back. It felt like it would leave a mark and if Noya saw him naked today he would think Asahi played around with other people. Or that Asahi liked to be slapped around.

The thought of seeing Noya naked today was too distracting and Asahi lost his footing on the treadmill, eventually stumbling and falling on his butt on the padded gym floor.

Bokuto laughed at him. "What was that, are you sick today, Azumane?!"

"Bokuto, I kind of have... A date later," Asahi mumbled sheepishly, his face feeling warm from both exercising and admitting he had a date. "So can I not get too tired out, please?"

Bokuto looked at him for a few seconds thoughtfully. He probably thought Asahi wasn't the type who could get dates was what Asahi decided he was thinking. Bokuto grinned. "Why didn't you say so in the first place, huh?!" He grabbed Asahi's hand to pull him up to his feet and gave him a sweaty bear hug Asahi had not wanted ever, before letting go to grin at him some more. "You wanna know the sex positions that burn off the most calories, then?! You can continue your workout during your date!"

"I- No thanks!” Asahi cried, embarrassed. “We're just going out to eat ramen!"

Bokuto decided that Asahi should rest up now, get a nice long shower, clean his apartment, change his sheets, and continue his workout with his date. Asahi was only so grateful that his usually endless workout with Bokuto was cut short today.

"Hey, Azumane, think you can set me up with Akaashi?" Bokuto suddenly asked once he was looking for the gym client form for Asahi to sign on. He hands Asahi the clipboard and points out where he should sign on. "He seems kind of interested in me but I think he's shy?"

Akaashi? He was another model in Asahi's agency, the one with the perpetually bored look in his eyes that designers thought was to die for. Asahi rubbed at the back of his head as he signed on the paper. "Uh, we're not really close, me and Akaashi. Try Tsukishima? They seem like pretty good friends."

"Tsukki?" Bokuto laughed. "They both have that brooding thing going on, huh? I'll bug Tsukki until I have a date with Akaashi then!"

-

Asahi hadn’t thought about what he was going to wear, and so he eventually started freaking about it just now. His closet is kind of a mess because of this and he had finally decided on wearing a black button-down shirt and dark jeans. He throws on a cardigan in case it was chilly outside. For his hair he wears it in a low, loose bun. Can’t have his date thinking he would go bald early by tying it too tight.

Asahi waited for his date outside when he arrived, because going up the building to see Noya was nerve-wracking, not to mention creepy as fuck. He went into the convenience store at the bottom of the building, settling for a box of apple juice to drink while he waited. The longer he waited, the more anxious he got. What if Noya stood him up? What if he finds out how boring Asahi really is in real life and isn’t interested anymore? His brows furrowed at the thoughts.

From: Nishinoya  
_On my way down now! Are you at the convenience store?_

Asahi sent an affirmative reply. He spots Noya waving at him exaggeratedly from outside, with Suga and Hinata Shouyou and some other guys Asahi didn’t know. Wait, Hinata? The orange-haired kid was staring at Asahi with his mouth open. Why was he here?!

“Asahi-san! See, you guys over there who didn’t believe I had a date,” Noya bragged when Asahi stepped out of the convenience store to meet him.

“Guess we all owe Hinata meat buns now,” one of them grumbled as a few of them walked away.

Suga gave Asahi a small wave of his hand. “Hi, Asahi.”

Hinata was just staring at the scene with his jaw to the ground. _Don’t say anything, don’t say anything, _Asahi prayed to himself. “Asahi-san! You’re Noya-san’s date?!” he yelled. “Then he was-“

Suga stuffed a meat bun in Hinata’s mouth before Asahi could beat him to shutting the boy up. Thank God for Sugawara Koushi, a literal angel sent from the heavens to prevent Asahi from becoming a convicted child murderer. “You must be hungry, Hinata! I’ll drive you to the station, okay?”

“You know Asahi-san, Shouyou?” Noya asked curiously.

Hinata nodded as he took the meat bun in his hands, his cheeks still full of food. “Yeah. He works with my boyfriend.”

“So Hinata’s boyfriend is a model? Must be handsome,” Suga commented.

“Pfft, no way!” Hinata burst out laughing, a few disgusting pieces of chewed-up food flying out of his mouth that Suga swiftly dodged away from. “He’s just tall and grouchy! He’s just a part-timer I guess, he’ll probably be kicked out of that modeling agency soon for that scowl of his!”

Kageyama had, in fact, walked in a few fashion shows and had quite a portfolio of him wearing the most expensive clothing. But having seen Hinata with his boyfriend already, Asahi knew how their relationship was like.

“Well, we better get going, Hinata. We don’t want to keep these two from enjoying their date.” Suga sure was good at reading situations. He pulled Hinata by the collar and waved to Asahi and Noya. Ah, Sugawara Koushi saves the day yet again.

Noya grinned at him, eyes sparkly and excited. “Let’s go?”

The ramen place Noya takes him to is a small, homey one near a shopping district. Asahi flinched at the enthusiastic welcomes that the staff yelled out at them.

“Oi, Ryuu. Remember Asahi-san?” Noya greeted one of the staff as he and Asahi were seated at a table for two. So his bald friend he was drinking with worked here. Asahi gave him a small bow and the least awkward smile he can muster.

“Oh, nice to see you again, Azumane-san.” Tanaka grinned at him. “Nee-san is at the back, I’ll call her out. She’s been babbling all day about you finally bringing a date over,” he snickered before being called by another customer.

“Ryuu’s family owns this restaurant,” Noya explained as he looked over the menu. He pointed out the tonkotsu ramen on the menu Asahi was holding. “That one is their specialty.”

“Guess I’ll order that then. I love tonkotsu ramen.” Asahi smiled at him. The two of them give their orders to Tanaka and Asahi listened to Noya talk about helping out at the restaurant sometimes. He used to be a delivery guy for them through his school days, which was why he has a license for a motorcycle.

“Oh, that’s Saeko-nee-san! Nee-san!” Noya called to a blonde woman bringing two bowls of ramen.

“Two tonkotsu ramen bowls,” the woman said with a grin as she set the bowls in front of them. “Yuu, you snagged yourself a handsome boyfriend huh!” She cackled loudly and Asahi was entirely uncomfortable. Boyfriend? Since when was he Noya’s boyfriend? He would want to be a boyfriend but it was too soon, they didn’t know each other that well and-

“He’s not my boyfriend yet, Nee-san!” Noya laughed back. Not his boyfriend… _Yet. _Asahi blushed. “This is Azumane Asahi.”

“Oh, nice to meet you, sir! I’m Tanaka Saeko. Yuu is pretty much my little brother so I hope you take care of him.” Saeko roughly messed up Noya’s hair with her hands. “Hope you guys enjoy your date!”

“Y-yes… Thank you. Nice to meet you, Tanaka-san,” Asahi said lamely before Saeko disappeared back into the kitchen.

“She’s cool, huh? I live with her and Ryuu at an apartment nearby,” Noya said as he picked up his chopsticks. “They’re pretty much my family.”

“You do seem close,” Asahi commented before having a bite of the best-seller ramen. The ramen was honestly one of the best ones Asahi had tasted, the broth tasty and the meat soft and juicy. He hoped he could come back here for more dates.

“Hey.” Noya leaned forward to tell Asahi when their bowls were empty: “No one is at home since those two are working here, wanna come to my apartment?”

-

As soon as they got inside the front door Noya was grabbing Asahi's collar to pull him down, kissing him so hard that Asahi was stumbling down the elevated flooring past the entrance. He ends up sitting with his hands on the floor to keep himself up as Noya toppled on top of him to keep shoving his tongue past Asahi's lips, sucking on his lower lip so that Asahi couldn't help but groan.

"Wait wait wait wait," Asahi mumbled as Noya unbuttoned his shirt and had already been littering kisses on Asahi's neck. "I said wait!" He pushed Noya back with a palm to the other man's chest.

"What?" Noya panted, his face flushed. He let go of Asahi's shirt and slowly got up. Asahi realized that they haven't even changed into slippers yet. Noya gave a short chuckle, reaching out a hand to pull Asahi up. "Got it. Bed, then."

The two of them get to bed, Noya casually stripping off his shirt while Asahi wanted so badly to button his own shirt back up, but couldn't deal with the embarrassment so he just left it open and sat down on the bed with his knees pulled up to his chest. 

"You good?" Noya grinned at him, making a move to kiss Asahi. 

_Ah, this is bad_, Asahi thought as Noya kissed him again, tongue warm and wet against his. Now they were going from one night stand to friends with benefits. Did Asahi want that? He thought about how Noya said he wasn’t his boyfriend yet, and how they just ate delicious ramen together and Asahi was introduced to people Noya thought of as family. Noya moved to his neck now, sucking on certain spots with an intensity that he was sure would leave marks. 

"I... Before we do anything," Asahi spoke up. Noya stilled his movements. "I wanna say something."

"What is it?" Noya looked a little irritated when he moved away to sit down beside Asahi. He must be mad at Asahi now, but Asahi brushed away the thought. 

"I'm interested in you, Noya. As... As a person." Damn, that sounded lame. "Like, not just for sex."

"Yeah, me too," Noya said impatiently, licking a stripe at the side of Asahi's neck so that Asahi yelped in surprise.

Asahi pushed him away again. "I- Listen! I... I think you're really cool and I love talking to you and being with you so I'd like to get to know you better and go on a lot of dates and eventually have a relationship with you maybe if we end up liking each other?" Shit. Now that was out, Noya might not want to see him anymore. _No thanks, Asahi-san, I just want someone to occasionally have casual sex with_ he would say and then go on to block Asahi's number and disappear on him forever, leaving Asahi to ponder going to Suga’s workplace to see Noya and Noya having to get a restraining order on him if he eventually did go. 

Noya looked mildly confused. "I said 'yeah, me too', Asahi-san. That was the plan."

Now Asahi was the one confused. “What… Does that mean?” he asked dumbly.

“Asahi-san, we just went on our second date and I already let you meet people who mean as much as family to me. Of course I’m interested in you. You’re not really one night stand material, you know? Even though we did kind of sleep on the first date.” Noya gave him a smile that had a hint of embarrassment. “Stop making me say lame things, Asahi-san.”

_So Noya counted that batting center and eating popsicles as the first date. _Asahi smiled back.

“So can I go back to trying to suck you off? I’m already soft and instead have an affection erection,” Noya laughed, slapping Asahi’s back as the long-haired man blushed at the straightforward proposition.

_Maybe it’ll be okay like this, _Asahi thought as Noya nibbled at his earlobe before moving on to latch his lips to Asahi’s neck. _Maybe it wasn’t such a bad way to meet._


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi wonders if he's a good friend. Mostly DaiSuga angst in this chapter.

The after-work ramen dates with Noya continued, along with a few drinking weekends with Noya's friends and sleepovers at Asahi's apartment. 

"You know Suga-san gave me a good talking-to before that first ramen date we had," Noya brought up one morning when the two of them were having breakfast at Asahi's. It was a typical Japanese breakfast with fried fish, miso soup, rice and eggs. 

"Yeah? What'd he say?" Asahi asked, busying himself with placing more tamagoyaki in Noya's rice bowl. 

"Something like, I shouldn't hurt you or he'll get me? I almost peed my pants. Suga-san is scary." Noya laughed at Asahi's horrified face. "It was like a parent with a gun giving away their daughter. That kind of image." 

"God, that's so embarrassing," Asahi groaned. "You must've been so turned off when he did that."

"Nah, I actually found it endearing!" Noya slurped some of his miso soup before grinning at Asahi. "That meant you're a good friend, since your friends are that protective of you." 

"Huh." Asahi thought about it for a while. A good friend? He didn't really do much for his friends, mostly just hung out with them and gave them presents on special occasions. It was actually Suga and Daichi that did a lot of things for him, constantly giving him pep talks whenever he felt down in the dumps. "I don't think I'm a good friend," Asahi concluded. 

"No way!" Noya protested. "Maybe you're just not conscious of the things you do for them," he said thoughtfully. 

The next week Asahi was to walk at a fashion show in Yokohama, so he and Noya had an extra long date that ended in rough sex in which Noya talked so dirty to him that Asahi wanted to go to church right after. Noya did cuddle him and kiss him more than usual before parting the next morning, and it made Asahi not want to go to work for an entire week to spend time with the other man. 

Asahi spent the rest of the day shopping for toiletries and other things he would need on a three-day trip, procrastinating on packing until the night came. 

From: Suga  
_I'm coming over_

As soon as Asahi read the text there was the buzz of his doorbell being pressed frantically. Oh no, was there some kind of emergency?! Did someone die?! 

He quickly got up to open the door, to reveal that Suga was not actually frantic. He was... Angry. Fuming. Suga scowled at Asahi, pushing past him to enter the apartment and throw the huge backpack he was carrying on the carpeted floor of the living room so that it bounced a little off the side of the sofa. He then stood in the middle of the living room. 

"Su... Suga?" Asahi stuttered. Was Suga mad at him? He couldn't really think of anything that he's done lately that Suga would be pissed off about. Maybe because he forgot to reply to one of Suga's text messages? Or the most recent one? Suga had barged in as soon as he received it so he couldn't have possible replied to that one. So why? 

Suga let out a frustrated whine, burying his face into his hands right before his shoulders were shaking and Asahi could hear him sobbing. Holy shit, Suga was fucking crying oh shit, someone crying! One of the million situations Asahi was bad at handling, right up there next to telling people he modeled for a living.

"Suga, a-are you okay?" Asahi panickedly went to his friend. Of course Suga wasn't okay, Suga was crying and throwing things angrily. Asahi gently touched Suga's shoulder, wondering if he should give him a hug or if that would make Suga even more miserable. Suga did turn to hug him, tight and desperate, and Asahi did his best to make his hug as comforting as possible, stroking Suga's hair and back soothingly. "Come on, let's sit down?" He maneuvered Suga's body to sit down on the couch, arm still around his friend's shoulders.

"Asahi," Suga blubbered miserably. "I fucking hate that guy!"

"What guy? Did Daichi-"

"Don't say his name! I don't wanna hear it!" Suga extracted himself from Asahi's arms, angry again. So Daichi was he-who-must-not-be-named today. Suga scrubbed at his face with his hands violently until Asahi offered him the box of tissues that was on the coffee table specifically for Asahi's frequent crying over animal movies. 

"O-Okay." Asahi watched as Suga blew his nose, immediately regretting because it got a little gross. "What happened?"

"I'm pissed off so I'm house sitting for you while you're away," Suga huffed, swiping at the fat tears pouring from the corners of his eyes. 

"That... Doesn't really explain anything." Asahi scratched the back of his head. He realized that he didn't have any food at home and Suga must be hungry. "Wanna order some pizza?"

"Yeah."

They sit in silence while waiting for the pizza, with Asahi's arm around Suga, kneading softly at his shoulder.

"I guess Daichi doesn't want to marry me," Suga said quietly. "Maybe we'll break up soon."

"What... What?!" Daichi and Suga, break up? How bad had their argument tonight been that Suga was thinking of breaking up?!

The doorbell interrupted Asahi's panic. He scrambled to his feet to get the pizza delivery at the door and set it on the coffee table.

"Was it that bad? What did you guys argue about?" Asahi asked worriedly.

Suga opened the pepperoni pizza box and squeezed a whole packet of hot sauce on one slice. "I told him I wanted to get married."

"And?" Asahi got his own slice, nibbling on it a little. He wasn't really that hungry and the suspense was killing him.

"And... That I wanted to adopt."

"A kid?"

Suga nodded as he stuffed the spicy pizza slice into his mouth, teary-eyed. "Wasn't that supposed to make him happy, Asahi?" He started sniffling again, hopefully because of the hot sauce.

"What did he say?"

"That I was dumb and wasn't thinking!" Now Suga was crying again and Asahi panicked that he might get some hot sauce in his eyes if he rubbed on them.

"I'm sure he didn't say that!" Asahi knew Daichi. He wasn't the type to blow up on someone and say mean things on purpose. "What did he say, exactly?"

"He brought up a lot of financial things, like how we haven't paid off the house entirely yet and that we were both working adults that didn't have the time or money for a wedding and most definitely a child... Asahi can you wipe my face please, I might blind myself with the hot sauce." Suga brought his face closer so Asahi could dab a tissue on his cheeks. "Thank you." He paused to get another pack of hot sauce to ruin a pizza slice with. "And then I said I was willing to resign from work and become a freelancer so I could take care of our child, and he tells me I shouldn't sacrifice that much for... For a stranger's child."

"Oh." Now Asahi understood a little bit why Suga was hurt. A stranger's child. Not _their_ child. A _stranger's_ child. "Did you... Ask him about that?"

"I was pissed! I yelled at him that it would be ours and that we would take care of it well together, and he raised his voice at me about how we couldn't possibly provide a normal childhood as a gay couple and that it wouldn't really be ours, it would be a stranger's kid whose life we would be ruining with the lack of the usual mother-father family structure. He said people would be horrible to the kid for having us as parents." 

Asahi wiped the tears from his friend's face, before pulling Suga to his chest in a tight embrace. "Daichi is a dick."

Suga let out a muffled "yeah". 

Asahi tucked Suga to bed that night, insisting that he was going to go out early in the morning anyway so he would be okay on the couch. 

Suga smiled at him, eyes a watery mess. "Thank you, Asahi."

"I haven't really done anything." Asahi didn't really know what to say to Suga, in all honesty. Suga always had words of comfort and advice to give to him, so why couldn't Asahi do the same? He felt miserable about it. Now was the time his friends needed him and he had no idea what to do. "Good night, Suga. I'll leave you the spare key so you can stay here until whenever."

"Okay. Thank you, Asahi. Good night."

Ther are several text messages from Daichi when Asahi checks his phone.

From: Daichi  
_Is Suga at your place? _  
  
_ Let him stay for a while please... I can't bring myself to see him just yet. Asahi, I feel terrible. _

Asahi dials Daichi's number and the other picks up the call almost instantly.

"Hello? Asahi? Is Suga..."

"He's here." Asahi heard Daichi let out a sigh of relief. "Daichi, you said some awful things and now he feels miserable."

"I know I did. I just... I feel scared, Asahi. That we can't handle it. That people will talk about our kid as 'that faggot couple's' and make it feel like he or she doesn't belong anywhere... I just don't think we can handle that." Daichi had always been confident and sure of himself, giving Asahi and others that extra push to take a leap of faith. Turns out that there are also things Daichi was scared about. "Suga wants to sacrifice that job he loves and worked hard for. For what, the pressures other people will have of us as parents? It's just... It would be too much for us, Asahi." 

"But you do understand that it'll be your kid, you and Suga's. Not... Some stranger's, like you told him."

"I do." Daichi was choked up by now, and Asahi wished he could give his friend a hug as well. "Hey, let him stay there for a while? I promise I'll talk to him properly when I've sorted out my thoughts."

"Yeah. You take care of yourself, Daichi. And, I hope this gets fixed soon."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi goes out of town. Oikawa and Iwaizumi are introduced.

Asahi has to leave early the next morning, so he doesn’t take time to wake Suga up and just makes sure his friend still has some cold pizza in the fridge to eat. He texts Noya a quick good morning and lets him know that he’s leaving, before he headed out to walk to the train station.

“Mornin’.” Kageyama is waiting for him outside the station, just where the boy said he would be. Other models had gone with Takeda, but since their manager’s car could only fit so much people Asahi and Kageyama decided to take the train.

Kageyama was pretty much a country bumpkin who didn’t travel a lot, Asahi learned when Kageyama looked in awe at Asahi buying tickets from the automated machine. Asahi remembered himself a little when he first came to the city.

Asahi had imagined that the two would look at the scenery and have a heartfelt conversation about life, but they just end up napping through most of the trip, too tired to engage in any small talk.

He gets a text from Noya once he and Kageyama arrive at the hotel they were supposed to be staying at.

From: Nishinoya  
_Good morning, Asahi-san! Good luck at work today (´ ε ` )_

To: Nishinoya  
_Good morning :D Can I ask you a favor? Could you check on Suga once in a while?_

From: Nishinoya  
_??? Did something happen?_

To: Nishinoya  
_He and his boyfriend are going through some things. Just distract him and make sure he’s eating properly, please?_

From: Nishinoya  
_Damn (__｡__•́__︿__•̀__｡__) I will, don’t worry! <3_

To: Nishinoya  
_I can’t… Not worry _(｡╯︵╰｡)

From: Nishinoya  
_Aw _(￣ε￣＠)

“Azumane and Kageyama, you okay with rooming with each other?” Takeda asked once they see him at the lobby. He was holding his usual notebook he usually wrote stuff in, a pen in one hand. “It’s two in a room.”

“It’s okay with me,” Asahi said, looking to Kageyama for confirmation. Kageyama was staring at Oikawa, who was sitting on the couch laughing with a tired-looking Iwaizumi.

Oikawa immediately scowled at him and latched on to Iwaizumi’s arm, much to Iwaizumi’s annoyance. “I’m rooming with Iwa-chan! Iwa-chan! No born model Tobio-chans allowed in our room!” Oikawa childishly stuck his tongue out at Kageyama. He seemed to dislike Kageyama ever since he got into their agency and Kageyama immediately got booked for jobs despite being a rookie. The younger man was stubborn and was always trying to learn things from Oikawa though, in a clumsy sort of admiration for the agency’s highest-paid model.

“I guess that’s final,” Takeda decided, taking it down on his notebook.

“Don’t worry about Oikawa,” Asahi tried to comfort Kageyama when they were in the elevator to go to their room. “He gets pissy and bitter when someone steals the spotlight from him, but he’s not that bad.”

Kageyama gripped his luggage’s handle tight, glaring at the elevator buttons. “I wanted to see how Oikawa-san prepared for shows.”

“Oh, he does all sorts of things,” Asahi said absent-mindedly. They get to their floor and Kageyama is looking at him with sparkling eyes. “I roomed with him and Iwaizumi a couple of times. You wanna know about it?”

Kageyama nodded eagerly.

_It was Asahi’s first runway show outside of town, of course he would be nervous. How embarrassing would it be if he tripped and ended up seriously injured? And what if he didn’t get along with the other models? He was supposed to be rooming with Iwaizumi and Oikawa and the two of them were some of the most intimidating in the agency._

_“Why are you just standing there, Azumane?” Iwaizumi slaps his back and Asahi jolts back into the reality that he had been standing at the doorway of their hotel room for more than a minute. _

_“I guess he got scared by Iwa-chan’s face,” Oikawa sing-songed. He had a face mask on, his hair pulled back by a bunny hairband. He was also typing rapidly on his phone, smiling once in a while. Probably texting his girlfriend._

_“Tell that to yourself, Jason Voorhees. You look like a serial killer.”_

_“So mean.”_

_Asahi decided to unpack a little, setting his sleep clothes on the bed._

_“Geh. Iwa-chan, this guy called me ugly.” So Oikawa had been reading online comments. He read out as he was typing “How about you… Change that ugly stained shirt and stop hitting on my cute fans on my page, you stinky, bald-“_

_“Idiot! You’ll get into trouble for that!” Iwaizumi leaped into Oikawa’s bed and grabbed the phone from his hands. He sat down beside Oikawa, his back leaned against the wall, fingers tapping on the phone. “Deleted and blocked. Easy.”_

_The two of them were quiet for a while, Oikawa going back to typing on his phone. He was apparently replying to fan comments on his Instagram, which Asahi thought was really nice of him._

_“You know you’re not really ugly, right?” Asahi heard Iwaizumi say when he was getting ready to shower in the small bathroom. He felt bad for eavesdropping but he couldn’t help it, he could hear everything. Maybe Oikawa was the type to let bad comments get to him?_

_“I know. It’s Iwa-chan that’s not cute.” _

_“Shut up.”_

_When Asahi finished showering, Oikawa immediately got to washing off the remnants of the face mask, complaining that Asahi took too long and his face might break out if he didn’t wash it off soon. _

_“Wow, Azumane’s Instagram is _so_ boring,” Oikawa suddenly commented at one point during the night. He beckoned Asahi to come sit beside him on his bed, Asahi shyly doing so. “Look,” Oikawa pointed at his phone screen. It showed Asahi’s Instagram, mostly managed by Takeda as Asahi didn’t really have the heart to look at any mean comments if there were any, and he felt too embarrassed to be tagging his Instagram posts with #model by himself._

_“It’s my portfolio, does anything else need to be there?” Asahi scratched his cheek. He made a little v sign when Oikawa turned on the front camera and smiled, taking a picture of them._

_“See, you have to post pictures of your daily life too so people know you’re not just a boring brainless clothes hanger,” Oikawa explained as he messed with the filters a little. He posted it on his Instagram, tagging Asahi with all the appropriate captions. “It makes you more likeable if you do that.”_

_“Fucking master of deception,” Iwaizumi commented from where he was lying in his bed. Asahi thought he was already asleep, so he jumped a little at his voice._

_“Says unpopular Iwa-chan who only gains followers from my tagged posts!”_

_Asahi thought he gained most of his followers from that one post, and he tried to follow Oikawa’s advice once in a while, mostly posting pictures of cute dogs he saw on the street._

“Skin care,” Kageyama mumbled to himself as the two of them put set aside their things in the hotel room. That was probably what he thought was the most important part of Asahi’s anecdote.

“Hard work!” Asahi tried to explain. “Oikawa works hard on his image!”

“By taking care of his skin,” Kageyama finished. “Thanks, Azumane-san.”

Asahi didn’t have the heart to argue so he just let Kageyama think that the key to Oikawa’s success was skin care. It wasn’t like Oikawa didn’t work hard on maintaining his skin.

-

Suga glanced at his phone. No blinking light meant no new message notifications. He put it back on his work desk, sighing. It’s been two days since he left home and Daichi hasn’t contacted him at all. It was getting Suga more and more depressed as time passed, and burying himself in work was the only thing that really distracted him.

There’s a faint knock on the door of his office and Noya opens it with a grin. “Suga-san, let’s have lunch at that new Chinese restaurant down the block.”

Suga gave him a small smile. “Sure.”

The mapo tofu at the restaurant wasn’t as spicy as Suga liked, but listening to Noya talk about the movie he and Asahi watched recently was good distraction from his problems.

“Asahi said something to you,” Suga said finally as Noya laid out his plan of a whole bunch of restaurants he wanted to try for lunch this week.

“You noticed? I’m pretty bad at keeping secrets,” Noya admitted, laughing. “He didn’t say anything specifically, but he did tell me to keep an eye on you.”

“Oh.” So Asahi hadn’t said anything. And Noya most likely didn’t ask him to elaborate, because Asahi was bad at keeping secrets too and was prone to word vomit when he had a lot of feelings.

“Asahi-san’s a great friend, huh?”

“Yeah.” Suga smiled. He wouldn’t have had anywhere to run to if Asahi hadn’t been around, and no one he was comfortable with enough to tell about problems that private.

“I would’ve noticed anyway that something was up even if Asahi-san didn’t tell me anything. You look like crap lately, Suga-san.”

Suga couldn’t help but chuckle. “You sure have lot of nerve insulting your boss like that, Nishinoya.”

“At least you’re laughing a little.” Noya beamed. “Hey, I’ll treat you to ramen after work this week, Suga-san.”

“Huh, what kind of boss would I be then, making a subordinate pay for my food,” Suga laughed even harder. Noya was a pretty fun guy, always doing things that people didn’t expect of him.

“It’s just… Thanks for introducing me to Asahi-san!” Noya blurted out. He still grins like there’s nothing to be ashamed of, even though the tips of his ears are reddening and the color is spreading to his face fast. “I’m really happy I met Asahi-san and it’s all thanks to you. So it’s the least I can do to try to cheer you up.”

So Noya did seem to be really into Asahi. Suga feels like he’s done something good by making Asahi approach him. “Guess I’ll have to take on that offer then. How does tomorrow sound?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed Asahi's work trip to be 3 days because... Fashion shows are so short and last only one night omg. Now i'm embarrassed! Also I get the cute emojis they text with from kaomoji.ru/en !

Most of the day was spent on runway rehearsals: in what order the models should go, at what pace they should walk and what facial expressions the designer wanted them to portray. It was pretty hectic but Asahi knew that the actual show was when it was more chaotic, with all the naked people and clothing being pulled off and put on his body. Asahi already dreaded it.

Kageyama needed to practice on his walk and kept getting yelled at, which Oikawa didn't bother hiding his pleasure about. Iwaizumi pointed out that Ushijima from the other modeling agency got to open the show and not Oikawa, making Oikawa mutter that they should just trip on the actual show.

Afterwards, Asahi and Kageyama had dinner at a small restaurant nearby with Akaashi, Tsukishima and Konoha. It was rather awkward: Tsukishima kept picking fights with Kageyama for some reason, while Akaashi was overthinking the meaning behind the entire collection of clothing they would be wearing. Konoha was pretty chill so Asahi thought he wasn't that bad.

"Azumane-san, can you take a look at my walk?" Kageyama asked once they get to their shared hotel room.

Kageyama's walk was too stiff and the movement in his arms was unnatural. Overall he just looked awkward and like he was thinking too hard about how to put one foot in front of the other. Asahi gave him a couple of pointers and taught him how to relax his face muscles, before he decided that they should rest now and get some exercise tomorrow morning. He also wanted an excuse to text the people at home.

To: Suga  
_How are you? I'm worried :(_

From: Suga  
_Your boyfriend has been taking me to eat a lot, hope you're not jealous! How's work? :)_

To: Suga  
_Work is okay i guess. I'm rooming with Hinata's boyfriend. _

Speaking of Hinata's boyfriend, Kageyama was on a phone call right now, with Hinata most likely, as Kageyama had been calling the other person a dumbass for the past half hour now. He's telling his boyfriend how he’s not doing all that good at walking, which Hinata probably laughed about because Kageyama was now arguing in onomatopoeia that a runway walk was different from walking _walking_.

From: Suga  
_Oh, that’s nice :D Be a good senpai!_

To: Suga  
_Any word from Daichi?_

From: Suga:  
_Nope. He’s probably just waiting for me to go and apologize myself. Jerk! (；￣Д￣)_

Asahi leaned farther into the pillow he had been hugging to his face as he lay on his stomach. Part of him wanted to go back home and slap Daichi (even though he would probably retreat once he saw that stern face of his), but he knew his friend needed time to think over things before talking to Suga.

To: Suga  
_Sorry about him. Give him time :(_

From: Nishinoya_  
Asahi-san (´ ε ` ) If you’re done with work can we facetime? _

To: Nishinoya_  
Sorry, I’m sharing a room with someone :( It’s Hinata's boyfriend btw!_

From: Nishinoya_  
Damn, I was so ready to get naked _(─‿‿─)

What?! Asahi could feel his face heat up and he tried to think of different things to keep his cock from getting interested. _Moldy bread, the disgusting public toilet he saw once when he was traveling, that locker in the club room back in high school that was filled with cockroaches…_

From: Nishinoya_  
Sorry (ノ_<。) I just miss you… _

Now Asahi felt something that Noya once called… What was it? An affection erection? Something inside him felt warm and happy. Wait, this was probably the heart fluttering shoujo manga heroines experienced, Asahi corrected himself. Heart fluttering sounded so much appropriate than _affection erection. _

From: Nishinoya  
_Anyway, you’ll be home the day after tomorrow, right? Can’t wait to see you (*˘︶˘*)_

No, this was definitely an affection erection Asahi felt. It was a boner in his heart.

To: Nishinoya_  
I miss you too __♡__( __◡‿◡__ ) _

The next day was the actual runway show. Asahi decided to go for a morning run with Kageyama around the city, checking out the scenery and canvassing for any good souvenirs they could bring home. After they finished they decided on buying some of the specialty chestnut cakes and chocolate bars that had fancy-looking packaging. Now that he thought about it, Asahi didn’t know really know if Noya liked sweets in general or just those soda-flavored popsicles. He worried about it and bought a bunch of other food items for variety in case Noya didn’t like the sweets.

The preparation period hours before the show was a mess as usual. Asahi couldn’t chat about This Week’s Misfortune with Yachi as the girl was all over the place doing everyone’s hair and making sure everything was perfect. At some point Akaashi even asked if Yachi was okay and she almost died of intimidation. Some of the newer models tried to hit on Shimizu but they immediately knew not to mess with her when she replied by lining their eyes with kohl more forcefully. Ushijima got most of the behind-the-scenes shots and interviews, and Oikawa was emitting bad energy because of it.

The actual show was a blur. Asahi could never really fully understand the concepts behind the clothes he was paid to model, but most of the pieces were black and outerwear as it was a fall season collection. Asahi personally felt cool in some of the pieces, like the long coat that he thought some anime villain would wear, and he hoped it would translate into confidence in his walk. He didn’t have any time to think about things like how he looked though, as backstage was a bunch of almost naked guys and the stylists panicking to get clothes on their bodies and making sure they were picture perfect.

Afterwards was a small cocktail party that models have to attend mostly to make connections. Asahi hated these parties, as he never knew when he would get tongue-tied and make a fool of himself in front of these fancy designers and photographers, so he mostly hung out with some of the models that he already knew. It seemed like Kageyama was getting some attention, almost at par with the amount of attention that Oikawa and Ushijima were getting, and Asahi prayed that the boy actually have some social skills that would get him connections.

“That was exhausting,” Asahi grumbled as he hauled Kageyama up to the younger man’s bed. The kid had one too many cocktails and Asahi volunteered to take him back to their hotel room as his roommate (not to mention he already wanted to go back to bed instead of trying to socialize).

“This job is really hard,” Kageyama slurred. His eyes were closed as Asahi took off his dress shoes so he could pull his feet up to the bed. “Modeling. I thought I just had to stand and take pictures and walk.”

“Sure is.” Asahi chuckled. Kageyama sure didn’t know what kind of job he got into when he asked to be a model. Asahi had been in the industry for years and there were still a lot of things he couldn’t get used to, like those stupid cocktail parties and the constant pressure to conform to beauty standards. He hoped Kageyama wouldn’t get too affected by it mentally.

-

Early the next morning the two of them check out of the hotel and haul their asses back to the train station, napping through the rest of the trip. Asahi texts both Suga and Noya that he was on his way home, and Noya texts him back almost instantly.

From: Nishinoya  
_Can’t wait to see you _╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

-

Right after the work day, Hinata and Noya were excitedly chattering about how Asahi and Kageyama were coming home. It was decided that all four of them would have a meal together, along with anyone else in the office who felt like going with them.  
  
“Suga-san, wanna come with us to eat?” Hinata offered happily just as they were closing up the office.  
  
“Sure thing,” Suga agreed. He went along with them on the train, keeping up with the conversations between Hinata and Noya the entire time, but he kept thinking back on Daichi. He stopped in his tracks just outside the restaurant.  
  
“Guys, I think I’ll go home for now,” Suga said with an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Maybe next time.”  
  
Hinata whined, but Noya immediately shut him up and said “No problem, Suga-san.”

Suga could hear Noya explaining to Hinata as he walked away that Suga had some very adult problems that he needed to attend to, and he chuckled when he heard Hinata say that Suga was the shining example of a proper adult.

This was probably the one time Suga felt this anxious to go home. The small bungalow was still the same: the rusty little gate, the shiny varnished front door that was the only new thing about the entire house, the bed of yellow flowers Daichi had probably watered because they didn’t look like they died during the time Suga was away. Suga busied himself with preparing dinner using the few groceries he stopped by on his way to get, setting the table with more effort than usual to make it look pretty.  
  
Then he waited for Daichi to get home.

After a few minutes of restlessly sitting on the couch, Suga heard the front door open and closed his eyes, bracing himself for the confrontation he's been putting off for days. How would he even start to talk about it? Suga had a lot of questions he wanted to ask. _Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you come to see me? Why don't you want to marry me?_ He opened his eyes, turned to the front door and saw Daichi in his usual office attire, eyes wide.

"Suga..." Daichi made a move to go to him, but Suga was already rising from his seat, walking towards his boyfriend and enveloping him in a tight hug. Fuck his pride, fuck all the nasty things he wanted to yell at Daichi, fuck getting married and having children any time soon. He just wanted to hug Daichi when he came home just like he's been doing everyday for the last few years.

"I'm sorry," Suga said quietly against Daichi's shoulder, feeling Daichi hug him back just as tight. This was nice. He missed Daichi so much, missed holding his warm body and smelling the fabric conditioner on his clothes. "Sorry. Sorry for yelling, sorry for leaving, sorry for pressuring you and making you feel bad for rejecting me. The more I thought about it, the more your words made sense, I'm..." He felt his eyes start to water and he gave a short laugh. "I'll give up on getting married and having kids, so let's make up, okay?"

He heard Daichi let out a sob. In all the years Suga has known him, Daichi had never been the type to cry easily. Suga was the more emotional one and Daichi was the one to just fearlessly go for the things he wanted. Suga soothingly rubbed his palm against his boyfriend's back, reassuring him repeatedly that everything was okay.

"I'm sorry, Suga. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't call, I... I was just scared…"

Suga laughed, sniffling. He let Daichi go, cupping his cheeks to swipe his thumbs at the tears that slid down his face. "You are always such a scaredy-cat when it comes to me," he mused, remembering how he had been the one to confess to Daichi back in high school since the other was terrified of ruining their friendship.

"Because you're so important to me." Daichi pulled him into a hug again. "I don't want you to resign from that job you worked so hard for just to have a family with me. I don't want us to break up because we couldn't handle the pressure everyone would have of us as parents."

They just stood there holding each other for a while, basking in the warmth that they both missed so much. Because even if it was only a few days, it was probably one of the most painful fights that they had to Suga.

"What is it that you do want though?" Suga asked gently. All Daichi had told him was his fears, and Suga understood him, but he did want to hear about what exactly Daichi wanted.

"I want to call you my husband." Daichi's hold on him tightened and Suga could feel his tears coming on. "I want to see what you would be like as a father. I want… I want a family with you."

"Don’t you want to try _because_ I'm important to you?"  
  
Daichi nodded wordlessly against Suga’s shoulder.

"Daichi." Suga let go, his fingers finding the hair at the back of Daichi's head instead so he could press a chaste kiss on Daichi's mouth. He smiled at how Daichi was looking at him, eyes noticeably red but so full of love for Suga. "I'll ask you again in a few years. I hope you'll be ready then."

Daichi smiled, and Suga was so, so in love. "Yeah."

"Wanna have make-up sex now?" Suga grinned, intertwining their fingers together as they walked to the dining area. "Fuck me like you can get me pregnant." 

“Let’s eat first, you kinky little shit.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahi is a lovable mess.

Kageyama was the type to sleep through all the scenic views whenever he traveled, so he was quiet most of the train ride back home. This was probably why it wasn't until they arrived at the station and Kageyama was clearly too weak to stand up without help that Asahi became aware of the younger man's fever.

"Hey, you're burning up," Asahi panics as he felt the other's forehead. They were supposed to be meeting Hinata and Noya at a ramen place but how was he supposed to take Kageyama places when the guy couldn't even stand upright without Asahi supporting him? "I'll take you home to your apartment, okay?"

"Shouyou," Kageyama huffs when they were inside a cab, arms crossed across his chest. He was still scowling even when his cheeks were pink with his fever.

"Shouyou... what?" Hinata's first name was Shouyou, if Asahi remembered correctly. He had already texted Noya that he would be taking Kageyama home because he wasn't feeling well, and that Hinata should probably come home too. "I texted Noya and Hinata already. They’re on their way too to your place too."

Kageyama slumps further into the plush seating of the car. "Wanna see Shouyou."

The two of them get to the apartment before Noya and Hinata do and Asahi, being the good senpai that he is, brings Kageyama to his bed like he did just the previous night. Asahi brings him a glass of water and some fever medicine he always brought with him just in case, and Kageyama obediently sits up to drink.

"Where's Shouyou," Kageyama grumbles softly when he was tucked back under his blanket. It actually sounded more like a soft whine than a grumble, but Asahi just couldn’t put Kageyama and _whine _in the same sentence.

"He's on his way, okay? Just wait a minute," Asahi tries to reassure him.

"I wanna see him."

_Cute_, Asahi thinks. _He must miss his boyfriend a lot._

As if on cue, the front door opens and there's the sound of socked feet running on wooden floorboards. The door to the room is thrown open to reveal a sweaty and out of breath Hinata.

"Kageyama!" Hinata pads to the bed and falls on top of Kageyama, panting. He gives a short, breathless laugh before sitting up beside his boyfriend, Kageyama immediately clinging to him and nuzzling his chest. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Kageyama grumbles against Hinata's shirt. "And you took so long. And then you fell on me. That hurt. Dumbass."

"Sorry," Hinata laughs, patting Kageyama's head apologetically. He turns to Asahi with a grin. "Thanks for taking this guy home, Asahi-san! He’s such a baby when he’s sick."

“Shut up,” Kageyama protests weakly.

"It's okay, he was just asking for you a lot," Asahi assures them. So Kageyama was the type who needed to be pampered when he was sick. It was kind of cute seeing him like this, still scowling and speaking harshly but clinging to his boyfriend. "Er, I think he got too tired out yesterday. We were at the after party until late. He might be hungover too."

"Huh, Kageyama-kun, you drunkard!" Hinata laughs and pokes Kageyama’s head. Kageyama looked like he was already asleep again, his arms still around Hinata's middle.

"Guys, I nuked the ramen, let's eat them before the noodles stretch out," Noya announces as he enters the room. His eyes light up when he sees Asahi. "Hello there, Asahi-san."

"Hey." Asahi smiles back.

Hinata somehow gets Kageyama to wake up again and feed him a little of the take out ramen. He insisted that Asahi and Noya eat at the dining table so that they're comfortable and don't have to see the disgusting sight of Kageyama acting like a baby.

"So," Noya starts. He blows on his noodles before asking: "How are you?"

"Good, I guess." Asahi pushed his hair back to not get any of it in his soup. He starts to eat as well but makes sure to chew and swallow his food first so he doesn't talk with his mouth full and Noya doesn't think he has bad manners. "How are you?"

"Fine. I just missed you a lot," Noya says simply, his foot delicately tracing up Asahi's shin. He stops and laughs out loud when Asahi jumps in his seat. "Still as jumpy as ever, Asahi-san."

They eat in comfortable silence, Noya occasionally asking a few questions about Asahi's trip and Asahi trying to remember things from the blur that was the actual fashion show. Afterwards they clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes, Asahi washing and Noya drying the clean dishes with a towel. It feels oddly domestic and it gives Asahi a warm feeling in his chest.

"I'll go check on the kids," Noya volunteers, trotting down the short hallway to the bedroom. Asahi tries not to think about how that sounded like he and Noya had kids together. Noya emerges not a minute later with an empty bowl and chopsticks in his hands. "They're asleep. Such cute little angels," he snickers.

"We should lock up then." Asahi got up to collect his suitcase. Noya does the same, helping Asahi carry the large paper bag of souvenirs, which Asahi thanks him for. "Will you, um, spend the night?" 

Noya flashes him a bright grin. “I thought you’d never ask.”

-

Sex is a hurried affair; both their sexual drives pent-up over the last few days exploding into desperate ripping clothes off and getting as much of each other’s tastes in their mouths. They lay beside each other afterwards, listening to each other’s breathing even out.

Noya presses a kiss on Asahi’s cheek before cupping his cheeks and pulling his head towards him to kiss him on the mouth. “Missed you.” He smiles when he lets go.

Asahi thinks this smile is lovely on Noya, but the smile he makes when Asahi admits shyly that he missed Noya too was so much more stunning.

“Hey, show me pictures of that fashion show,” Noya says once they’ve gotten cleaned up and snuggled under the covers again.

“Er, they aren’t that much…” Asahi quickly googles the season and designer’s name on his phone, hoping there weren’t any unflattering pictures of him. He turns to lie on his stomach so his arm doesn’t get cramped from holding his phone up, and Noya does the same. “Here… It’s a fall collection so it’s just jackets,” Asahi explains awkwardly.

Noya genuinely looks interested, eyes wide as Asahi swiped through the pictures. “Hey, those clothes are really cool,” he comments at the black trench coat with gold accents that Ushijima was wearing.

They finally come across a picture of Asahi wearing a somewhat tight suit (Asahi remembered Yamaguchi practically sewing him into wearing it) and Noya gasps: “Handsome!” He’s like this for every Asahi picture they see, praising the older man even though Asahi was practically turning into a tomato with every compliment and was begging Noya to stop.

“That’s all I guess,” Asahi says when they reach the end of the slideshow.

Noya stops him from closing the browser. “Wait, there’s a backstage photos gallery!”

They look at that one next and it doesn’t look as chaotic as Asahi remembered. There is a picture of him looking at whatever Akaashi is playing on his phone, one of Asahi getting his eyes lined which he finds embarrassing because he has to look up and make a strange face, some of him with other models. Noya laughs at the ones where he looks awkward.

“That woman doing your makeup is really pretty, why isn’t she a model?” Noya points out when he insisted on looking through the pictures again and meticulously looked at specifically the one Asahi found embarrassing.

“Shimizu? I think she’s the type that dislikes attention. She’s more of a behind-the-scenes kind of person,” Asahi explains.

“Hmm.” Noya continues to stare at the picture, forehead creased in thought.

Wait a minute… Suga did say Noya was bi, didn’t he? Maybe Noya was interested in Shimizu? It made sense since Shimizu was beautiful, everyone says so, and Noya wasn’t really dating Asahi, was he?

“Do you, uh… Want me to introduce you to her,” Asahi mumbles, avoiding Noya’s eyes. Ah, this was painful. What if he says yes? And how would Asahi introduce him to Shimizu even, _hey Shimizu this guy I was fucking is not interested in me anymore and he’s interested in you and it makes sense because I’m not really anything special…_

“What… Is that supposed to mean?” Noya sits up on the bed.

“Well, I thought you would be interested in her so…” Asahi forces himself to also sit up to look at Noya and immediately regrets it.

Noya is _pissed. _Asahi could feel it in the way his eyebrows were furrowed and how intensely he was looking at Asahi. “And I would be interested _why?”_

“I… Uh, Suga said you were bi! When he saw me checking you out the first time I talked to you.” Did Asahi say something wrong?

“And because I’m bi I would suddenly leave you for a pretty girl?” Noya buries his face in one hand, groaning. “Asahi-san, listen to yourself!”

“But… We’re not really officially dating so you’re not really obligated to stay with me.” Damn, that was sad. Asahi looks down at his hands. “Noya, you could probably date anyone you wanted. You’re really outgoing and charismatic and I’m just... Big and awkward and-”

“Stop spouting nonsense!”

Asahi flinches at Noya’s tone.

“Asahi-san… Didn’t you say you wanted to try being with me and we’ll see if we like each other and end up dating? Do you… Do you not like me?” Noya sounded so dejected and Asahi feels bad.

“No!” Asahi says quickly. This was just going downhill with every word he said and he wanted to just shut up and bury himself in the blanket. “I-I mean, yes! Yes I like you!”

“But you’re trying to set me up with your coworker?” Noya groans again. He dives face-first into a pillow and Asahi can hear muffled screaming. “Why are you so frustrating?!”

Asahi clasps his hands together and twirls his thumbs around each other, his back leaned against the headboard of the bed. Noya is having something like a quiet tantrum now, his legs kicking at the bed while he whined into the pillow. Asahi doesn’t really know what to say that would make things okay again. Should he say he wanted Noya to date him instead and not try to go after Shimizu like Asahi had suggested? No, Asahi didn’t have the nerve to say that. It wasn’t like Noya would choose him over a beauty like Shimizu and Noya had every right to go after people so much better than Asahi and-

Noya had stopped his kicking and was now straddling Asahi, his ass bare against Asahi’s stomach. His eyebrows were still furrowed but it didn’t seem like he was as angry anymore. It was more like he was… Determined? “I… I like Asahi-san.”

“Huh?” Asahi was expecting Noya to punch him or something, not get a confession. It makes Asahi’s face heat up.

“So don’t go setting me up with other people!” Noya scolds him with an accusing finger poking Asahi’s chest. “When I like you so much I was going crazy when you were away for just _three days.”_

“You… You were?” Asahi asks timidly.

Noya nods. “And I was looking at the make-up artist because _you _might come to like her! You work with so many attractive people that I’m the one who should be worried! Why are you the one who thinks I’m too good for you?!” he snaps at Asahi.

“You like me,” Asahi says in disbelief. He couldn’t wrap his head around something like an outgoing and successful person like Noya liking him. How he felt about Noya was something he just put at the back of his mind, as Asahi didn’t want to have any expectations. “Really?”

“Yes, I just said so,” Noya says exasperatedly. “What about you? Are you not interested in me anymore?”

“No! I said I like you!” Asahi doesn’t really know what to do so he pulls Noya to his chest. “Sorry.”

“For what?” Noya demands against him.

“For… Trying to set you up with Shimizu.”

“And?”

“Uh...” That was all, wasn’t it?

“For thinking I would run after anyone attractive like a horny rabbit.”

“Sorry…”

“And??”

“Um… Is there anything else?”

“Yes!” Noya pulls back to look at him and he looks absolutely _pissed. _“Thinking you aren’t amazing!”

Asahi doesn’t want to apologize for that, he doesn’t think he’s anything special, but he’s scared that all 160cm of Noya will beat the crap out of him so he just says sorry until his new boyfriend forgives him.

Wait, they are boyfriends now, aren’t they?

“What are you overthinking this time?” Noya asks when they’re about to sleep. He’s being extra cuddly now in the darkness of Asahi’s room, probably because they just confessed to each other.

“Well… You’re my boyfriend now, aren’t you?” Asahi holds up their intertwined hands.

Noya groans. “_Yes. _Yes, I have the most attractive boyfriend in the entire universe. His one major flaw is that he doesn’t think he is. Good night.”

Asahi smiles to himself at finally being able to hold Noya’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will end this here as they are finally together and 10 is a good number to end with! Thank you so much to everyone who read this especially the ones who left comments, those were my driving force to finish this <3

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave some comments! My anitwt is @ugaytsu and I have like 5 followers please be my friend!


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